Saturday, 20 July 2013

NAKED - Lie Follows Lie

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

It's often said that band's early work is their best, but this is often said by elitists who got to know of a band before the mainstream did. Quite often it can take two or three albums for a band to hit their stride, although the list of incredible debut albums is a long one. Hopefully this debut single from Edinburgh band NAKED isn't the best they've got, hopefully they can do much better. If they do manage to come up with better songs than the pair here then it'll mean they're an incredible band, because this is one of the finest debut singles we've heard for a while, and NAKED have managed to create their own form of dreampop.

'Lie Follows Lie' doesn't quite fit in with the current (and extensive) list of dreampop bands. Yes, there are a few similarities here and there, but NAKED leave their own unique mark. The guitar and vocals follow each other and are hidden in the middle of the mix to give that ghostly effect, and a reasonably normal ticking beat ties the song together. When they hit the chorus though, those vocals head skywards, pulling the rest of the song with them as they do. It's a quite beautiful sound that's made. B-side 'In Heaven' isn't just here to make up the numbers, it has a warm Cocteau Twins glow for the verses and a surging chorus that shows another dynamic to the band. A wonderful first effort.